Ask most salespeople what their deals in progress are worth and they'll give you a number. Ask them how fast those deals turn into revenue and you'll get a blank stare.
That blank stare is the difference between teams that hit their number and teams that are "always nearly there." The value of your deals in progress, without knowing how fast they close, is like knowing how much petrol is in the tank without knowing how fast the car is moving. You can't predict when you'll arrive.
The value of your deals in progress, without knowing how fast they close, is like knowing how much petrol is in the tank without knowing how fast the car is moving.
The Formula
How fast your deals turn into revenue is simple maths. Four inputs, one output:
(Number of Deals x Average Deal Size x Win Rate) / Average Days to Close = Revenue per Day
Real example: you have 150 qualified deals, your average deal is $15,000, your win rate is 22%, and your average deal takes 75 days to close.
150 x $15,000 x 0.22 / 75 = $6,600 per day.
Run your own numbers
Four inputs, one output. It opens on the article's own example: 150 qualified deals, $15,000, 22% and 75 days.
150 x $15,000 x 0.22 / 75 =
Revenue per day$6,600
Same as the article's example: $6,600 per day
Formula: (Number of Deals x Average Deal Size x Win Rate) / Average Days to Close = Revenue per Day. The defaults reproduce the article's worked example, 150 x $15,000 x 0.22 / 75 = $6,600 per day.
That single number tells you more about your sales health than any report on your deals in progress. It accounts for volume, deal quality, execution, and speed, all in one number. When this number goes up, revenue follows. When it drops, trouble is coming, even if the total value of your deals looks healthy.
Why Nobody Tracks It
Because customer-tracking systems don't show it by default. HubSpot shows you the value of your deals in progress. Salesforce shows you win rate. Your spreadsheet shows you deal count. But nobody combines the four numbers into one and tracks it week over week.
So what happens? You celebrate when the value of your deals goes up, even if the time to close is getting longer and your win rate is dropping. You've got more fuel in the tank, sure. But the car is slowing down. Revenue stalls and nobody can explain why because "the numbers look great."
The fix is one habit: measure it every week, consistently, and watch the trend rather than the total value of your deals.
The Four Levers
How fast deals turn into revenue has four inputs. Each one is a lever you can pull:
- More deals. More qualified deals coming in. This is the lever you pull by reaching out first, getting people to come to you and marketing. It's the most obvious one, and the most expensive.
- Bigger deals. Increase your average deal size through better targeting, upselling, or selling to bigger customers. A 20% increase in deal size is a 20% increase in revenue per day with zero extra leads.
- Higher win rate. Close more of what you've got. Better discovery, better demos, better follow-up. Improving from 20% to 25% is a 25% increase in revenue per day. That's an extra $375K per month without a single additional deal.
- Faster closing. Get deals through faster. Eliminate stalls, cut buying-approval delays, get to decision-makers earlier. Cutting your time to close from 75 days to 45 days increases revenue per day by 67%. That's the most underrated lever of all.
What one lever does to revenue per day
The article's worked examples: a 20% bigger deal, a win rate from 20% to 25%, a time to close cut from 75 days to 45.
| Lever | Increase in revenue per day |
|---|---|
| Bigger deals | 20% |
| Higher win rate | 25% |
| Faster closing | 67% |
Which Lever Do You Pull First?
Find your weakest link. Run the numbers and ask: which number is slowing my revenue down?
Which number is slowing my revenue down?
Pick the line that sounds like your sales.
- More deals
- Bigger deals
- Higher win rate
- Faster closing
Lever: Higher win rate
If you've got plenty of deals but a 12% win rate, you don't need more leads. You need better qualification or a stronger sales process. Pouring more leads into a leaky bucket just wastes marketing spend.
Lever: Faster closing
If your win rate is solid at 30% but your average time to close is 90+ days, focus on speed. Why are deals stalling? Is it buying approval? Getting everyone involved to agree? Unclear next steps? Each day you shave off the time to close directly increases your daily revenue.
Lever: Bigger deals
If your deal size is stuck at $5K and your competitors are closing $25K deals, you're probably targeting too small. Aim at bigger customers. One $25K deal at a 20% win rate generates more revenue than five $5K deals at the same rate, with less effort and fewer meetings.
Lever: More deals
The mistake most teams make is defaulting to "more leads" because it feels like progress. It's the loudest lever. But it's rarely the most efficient one. If your deals close slowly, more leads just means more slow deals. Fix the engine before you add more fuel.
Fix the engine before you add more fuel.
How to Set Up Weekly Deal Speed Tracking
Four numbers, updated weekly
You need four numbers from your customer records, updated weekly:
Plug them into the formula. Track the output number every Monday. Plot it on a chart. That's it.
You're looking for the trend, not the absolute number. Is the number going up week over week? You're getting healthier. Flat or declining? Something is broken and you can now see exactly which lever is the problem.
After 4-6 weeks of tracking, you'll spot patterns you never noticed from reports on your deals alone. Maybe it dips every time you run a big campaign reaching out to new people (more deals, but lower quality). Maybe it spikes when a specific salesperson runs demos (higher win rate). Maybe it drops when you're selling to large companies (longer closing times eat the improvement from bigger deals).
That's the power of tracking speed. It doesn't just tell you how much is in your deals in progress. It tells you how fast they become revenue. And for a small team with limited resources, knowing where to focus is worth more than any amount of deal value.
